East Grinstead Hall of Fame: L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard -1959 Saint Hill L. Ron Hubbard [March 13, 1911 – January 14, 1986] lived an extraordinary and adventurous life. Although best known as the founder of the Scientology religion, he was also a Master Mariner, Pilot, Photographer, Musician, Author, Explorer, Philosopher and much more besides.

He lived at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, between 1959 and 1967 during which time he greatly contributed to the local community. He was the East Grinstead Road Safety Committee organiser, an East Grinstead Parade Marshal and he sponsored children’s cycling competitions.

He was Vice President of the East Grinstead Horticultural Society and carried out revolutionary horticultural experiments at Saint Hill. He was also involved with and contributed to numerous community events and local organizations such as the St Johns Ambulance brigade and the Adeline Genee Theatre to which he was an original donor.

The East Grinstead community has profited enormously from Mr. Hubbard’s decision to make East Grinstead the place to further his research on the mind and life. Countless visitors have come from all over the world to study his discoveries here since 1959 when Saint Hill was Mr. Hubbard’s home.

A brief summary of his life reads as follows:

At the age of 13 years he became America’s youngest Eagle Scout.

At George Washington University Hubbard studied Engineering, Atomic and Molecular Physics.

In 1933, Hubbard led the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition which completed the first mineralogical survey of Puerto Rico.

Hubbard’s first fiction publication was in 1934 and in the next six years he completed 138 novels and short stories plus he wrote extensively for Hollywood.

In 1940 he was elected a member of the prestigious Explorers Club.

In 1941 he was awarded Master of Sail license for “Any Ocean.

During WWII, he took command of convoy escort vessels in the Atlantic and then submarine hunters in the Pacific. He received over 20 decorations during his military career. He had been injured in the war and his earlier discoveries helped him to cure his disabilities.

In 1947-1948 Hubbard served as a Special Police Officer with the L.A. Police Department which gave him the opportunity to study the criminal mind. This led to the development of Criminon, the prison inmate rehabilitation programme, which is in use in over 750 prisons and has the support of Judges, Parole Officers and other penal system professionals.

In 1950, he published “Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health “, now the biggest selling self-help book of all time, with well over 17 million copies sold. Further research led him to the development of the Scientology religion.

Hubbard’s researches in the spiritual technology of the Scientology religion comprises over 500,000 pages, more than 3,000 recorded audio lectures and in excess of 100 films.

As an author Hubbard has sold over 120 million copies of his works and is one of the greats of the Golden Age of science fiction. He was equally prolific as an author of western, adventure, romance and mystery.

He developed a system of administration, which is used in over 35,000 companies world-wide

He developed the techniques used by the Narconon drug rehab programme which has helped over 100,000 people to kick the habit in 37 residential centres across the globe.

Hubbard developed a methodology of study, which is now in use by millions of school children in numerous countries with remarkable success.